Hints and tips:
...“Pictures” is the ballad, sparsely produced, with moody piano from Greg Phillinganes, one-time MD for Michael Jackson....
...Collaborations range from Robert Glasper and Quincy Jones to Common and Jill Scott, but the American remains something of a behind-the-scenes presence who, like all good bass players, is heard but not seen...
...Freeman’s credits range from Michael Jackson to Dizzy Gillespie, but here he delivered modern jazz based on modal structures and the blues....
...Though Benjamin provided the frontman focus, Glasper remains very much at the core....
...Ornette Coleman introduced free jazz, John Coltrane modes and Michael Brecker and Kenny Garrett modern fusion....
...“La Valse Kendall”, written for his wife, combined affectionate swirls with romantic cadences, while “Hope”, written for the late saxophonist Michael Brecker, oozed emotional ambiguity....
International Edition